14 DAY TRIAL // Enterbrain, a company which publishes the popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu and watches the market in the country, has announced that it estimates that the Nintendo 3DS handheld will be the best-selling hardware for the current year, despite the current slowdown.
It seems that the new Nintendo device will sell 2,868,000 units before the end of the year, which is significantly better than the 2,378,000 that are estimated for the PlayStation Portable from Sony.
Overall, the Japanese hardware market will continue its decline this year, a trend that started back in 2007.
The number of consoles sold has went from over 16,100,000 to just 9,441,900 during 2010.
Enterbrain says that the normal DS will also continue to perform well during 2010, moving 1,545,000 consoles to gamers.
When it comes to home devices, the Nintendo Wii is expected to sell 948,000 units, which is significantly lower than the 1,469,000 consoles sold that are projected for the PlayStation 3 from Sony.
Interestingly, the Enterbrain estimates also include a category for next-gen projects, probably including both the NGP handheld from Sony and the new home device from Nintendo, with sales set to reach 547,000 units during this year and going up to 2,311,000 in 2012.
The unique ability of the Nintendo 3DS is to deliver full three-dimensional experiences without the need for the unwieldy glasses that are used on home gaming console and on the PC.
The device has managed to perform well on all markets during its first few days on sale, as players were quick to pick it to see the 3D in action, but since then sales have slowed down significantly, with the Japanese weekly chart showing the device going below the sales numbers of the PSP.
The weakness is attributed to the relative lack of high-profile video games launched on the Nintendo 3DS, something the publisher plans to remedy during the second half of this year.